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91216-Friend of the Family
LL: It's been a little over a sweep since you left the orphanage. By human reckoning you're sixteen now. Things have gone well, for the most part. You know that you're being tracked by people within the government, mostly so Lucy can keep tabs on you, and Nyarla, ostensibly. At your last pit stop to fill up gas in the jeep, one of the attendants nervously handed you a letter. It was a personal summons, from the Autocrat, to come to the Imperial Palace. He mentions he has a favor he'd like to ask. LL: What will you do? CC: Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. One letter from that guy was one thing. Meeting him in person...Well, it's not like he can say no...A halfbreed in the royal court? Death sentence, probably. His mom was a hero though so who knows. He will, when he gets there. LL: The Imperial basin is pretty large. It used to be an ocean, but when the planets were bound most of the water was thrown outward into the ice shell. Now it's a wasteland of salt flats and skeletons. There are, of course, roads, and checkpoints now, to get to the palace. While a few of the guards make faces at you, it seems word has been sent ahead to let you and your jeep pass without incident. So it is that you find yourself parking just outside the Palace gates, an olive-blood attendant glaring at you sourly. CC: As he steps out of the vehicle, he averts his eyes away from the olive-blood intitially. Already feeling the most unwelcome he's ever felt, however, when he looks down, he sees his mother's symbol standing proudly on chest. His eyes rise to meet the olive-bloods, a bored gaze. "The Autocrat wishes to see me." There was a slight emphasis on 'Autocrat' and 'me'. LL: The Olive scowls, and presses a button, muttering under his breath about half-breeds. LL: The large gates swing open, and behind them you can see wide gardens, and numerous highbloods mingling in the moonlight. A yellowblood approaches, coughing into his hand. "Name, please?" CC: he's awed by the look of the place and nearly misses the question. "Dain Ho-er, Daiyne Deloom." LL: The yellow nods. "You are expected. This way." He turns on his heel and heads toward the palace. CC: He follows, emulating a stately stride. As if he wasn't a bundle of shot nerves on the inside right now. LL: The yellow leads you into a large building, with twisting spires of coral and blue glass. It appears to be a small greenhouse, filled with a variety of flowers from both Earth and Alternia. Inside, you see a bronzeblood woman, in servant's garb, speaking quietly to a tall cerulean. Considering his fine robes, and the way the maid curtseys, he's probably the Autocrat. LL: "She won't attend her lessons, Regent. She insists on staying in her room and playing on her computer." The maid casts her eyes to the floor. "We cannot order her. You're the only one she listens to." Nyarla sighs. "Of course. I will speak to her tonight. It's been too long. She needs to begin taking statecraft seriously, if she is to be Empress." LL: The Yellow blood beside you coughs. LL: Nyarla turns, and nods. "Thank you, madame. I will speak to her this evening." The maid bobs a curtsey, and hurries out the door. The Yellow beside you bows. "Daiyne Deloom, your excellence." He bows again, and leaves you alone with the Autocrat. CC: He stands ramrod straight when the Autocrats eyes turn to them, then follows the yellowblood into a bow. He dare not speak yet. LL: Nyarla smiles. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Daiyne. My advisors have kept me abreast of your exploits, and speak quite highly of you." CC: "I appreciate the praise, your highness." LL: He waves you off. "Please, Please. I'm the regent, not the prince. Just call me Nyarla. Did you know your mother and I were close?" CC: "I didn't know that, no." CC: He relaxes just a smidge. LL: Nyarla nods. "Yes, we were moirails." He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a worn photograph. It depicts Nyarla and your mother, grinning at the camera, arm in arm in front of a mountain range. "That's from our first visit to Earth, before I first met the Empress." He smiles fondly at the memory, meandering among the plants. CC: Wow, his mom was the Regent's moirail. He shares in the smile, seeing his mother happy. LL: "I am afraid I must attempt to leverage my relationship with your mother for a favor, Daiyne. I hope you can forgive me." CC: The smile fades, a serious face overtaking it. "She'd like that I helped her moirail, right? What's would you like me to do?" LL: He looks up through the blue glass towards the water shell. "It doesn't take a prophet to know that our worlds don't have long. We're on the verge of some great scientific advances that will permit me to take the people of both planets somewhere much safer. I need to know how much time I have, to see how many more resources I need to divert to ensure things are finished on time. There is a scientist, a geologist, Varani Mander. She travels between Earth and Alternia, studying our destruction. I need you to find her, and get a report from her." He looks at you, his face pained. "It will be dangerous, Daiyne. Normally I would send guards but... I think it may be easier for an anonymous half-breed to slip onto earth, find Varani, and come back, than a bunch of officials. And if anything, I know you have your mother's spirit." CC: He takes a moment to think, earth is a dangerous place for a half-breed. But Nyarla was right, it was even more so for known officials. A geologist would probably be off in a desert or something anyway, not a city full of humans. He should be fine. He has no reason to be afraid, right? And this was for the good of both planets too. "I'll find your scientist." He channels all the confidence he can muster into his voice. "I just need a lead to start my search." LL: "The last time she checked in, he was heading towards Earth's outermost point, on the far side of the planet. She is also, while there, attempting to ascertain when the best time would be to make the jump from Earth to Castle Calier. If you, prehaps have any questions for him in that regard..." Nyarla gives a conspiritorial wink, "Well, that's your business, isn't it." CC: The edge of his lip quirks upwards into a smirk. LL: "Since you can't exactly take the jeep, it's a bit conspicuous, I've asked Renald to secure you a more non-descript form of transportation, and a few different forms of identification. I trust you have learned how to handle yourself by now?" CC: He frowns at not being able to take the jeep, but it fades when he hears he's getting a different ride and new IDs. "Yes Sir! Thank you for all of the aid you've given me." LL: "You're Ramira's son. I'd have done anything for her, so I will do anything for you. It's what she would have wanted. You'll need to be careful on Earth. That Carter and his terrorists will kill you on sight. If you remotely feel like your safety is threatened, kill first, ask questions later." CC: "They can try. Like you said, I'm Ramira's son." He gives a toothy grin, they were pointed, but not as outright sharp as a troll's. LL: Nyarla chuckles. "If there's anything else you want, or need, before you go, don't hesitate to ask." CC: "I won't. Thanks again, Nyarla." He gives another bow, far less tense than the first. LL: Nyarla nods, and carefully plucks a dark blue lotus from the plant in front of him. He holds it out. "Here. They were her favorites." CC: He accepts it graciously, smiling fondly at it in his hands. "Heh, when I'm back I might have to ask you for stories about her." LL: He smiles. "I'd love to meet up and chat. Maybe you can bring your sister to dinner, and you can recount your adventures, and I'll recount mine?" CC: "Yeah. Yeah, it'll be geat. It should be soon." LL: Nyarla grins. "Renald?" The Yellow blood returns. "See to it that Daiyne has everything he needs. Understood?" The yellow blood bows. "This way." CC: "Bye Nyarla." He follows after the Renald dilligently, a pep in his step. LL: Renald seems slightly disgusted, but won't countermand the Regent. He leads you to a small garage. Inside, you find an old motorcycle, well-maintained, with racing stripes in your mother's blue. "I am told this was the Predator's property in her younger days. It has been maintained at the behest of the regent, and now I am ordered to give it to you." CC: The disgust doesn't even register right now. He marvels at the bike, damn near drooling. "Thanks." He says it breathlessly, no more than an afterthought as he inspects the motorcycle, sliding a hand along the racing stripes. LL: It's definitely an older model, the kind from old Alternian movies from before the war. They usually involve some hero in a leather jacket riding around and saving damsels and stuff. CC: He mounts the bike, getting a feel for it before leaning all the way forward to actually give the thing a hug. LL: Renald sniffs in disapproval. "Here." He holds out a small black bag. "I assume you'll know what to do with *these*." CC: Now he notices the distate this time, yet brushes it right off again. He takes the bag, pulling out the items. LL: Inside are three IDs. One lists Daiyne as being an official of the Troll Government, a blue-blood, and the son of the Predator. The next is just a basic earth-ID, that has no readily identifying information. The third is a birth certificate, and it notes his father's name is "Milo Howser" and "(deceased)" LL: You've heard the name Milo Howser before. CC: He takes a moment to think on why he's so familiar with that name. LL: You remember seeing a movie about the war back in the orphanage. Milo Howser was one of the human soldiers. In the movie, he and the Predator fell in love, and then he had to kill her when she killed the Human Queen. He killed himself not long after. It made all the emotional kids in the orphanage weep. CC: "..." He stares long and hard at the name, his face expressionless and mind blank. He's born of a hero on both sides of the war. And they went out like a more violent Romeo and Juliet, that is to say, the regular troll rendition, probably. He captchas the IDs and the bag, it's a nice bag. "Hey Renald. You seen this baby in action? How combat ready is it?" LL: "I saw the Predator use it, once. She was..." His eyes glaze over, as he remembers. "She was glorious. She had that polearm and just... she rode it sideways down the length of Yggdrasil, fighting off dozens of human soldiers on her own. It was like a dance." CC: He loses himself in the story for a moment. "I meant weapons systems, but she was the only weapon she needed, I guess." LL: Renald nods. "Indeed. She took every fight as a personal challenge." LL: "Do you require anything else, Half-breed?" CC: He nods. "I need you to bring me a few parts if ya can." CC: He summons a pen and a notepad from his sylladex, scribbling onto a page before ripping it off and holding it out to the yellow blood. "Does this look doable?" LL: He scowls. "Give me a few days, half-breed." He says, snapping the paper out of his hands. CC: "I've got to leave reasonably soon." He stresses the 'soon' just enough to leave it ambiguous whether he was rushing the troll or not. "In the mean time, a test drive is in order." LL: "Very well." The Yellow Blood leaves. Category:Dain Category:Autocrat